Super Bowl, baccarat push casino wins to 5th-best total on Las Vegas Strip, 6th-best statewide

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Super Bowl, baccarat push casino wins to 5th-best total on Las Vegas Strip, 6th-best statewide
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip had their fifth-best month ever with the Super Bowl in town, powering the state to its sixth-best win total of $1.342 billion.

Strip casinos won $800.7 million from gamblers in February, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB). Both statewide and Strip gaming wins were the best ever for the month of February.

“Once again the Strip’s gaming win accounted for the majority of the state’s growth as gaming win excluding the Las Vegas Strip increased by 3.2% or $16.8 million,” according to Michael Lawton, senior NGBC economic analyst.

But despite sportsbook wagers that were the second-highest ever recorded in the month of February, it was baccarat that drove Strip casinos’ performance, Lawton said.

“The primary contributor to this month’s growth was Strip baccarat win which totaled $180.5 million and increased $81.2 million or 81.9% year over year,” he said. “These robust baccarat win totals on the Strip accounted for 77% of the state’s overall increase.”

Chinese New Year celebrations and an extra day in the month — leap day, Feb. 29 — helped casinos set a new high mark for February. But the Super Bowl and all the surrounding activity was a “huge driver for visitation,” Lawton said.

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in overtime, 25-22, in Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Sportsbooks in Nevada won $47.9 million in February on wagers that totaled $712.3 million. Compared to February 2023, that’s a 16.1% increase in the win total and an 8.0% increase in the handle. Football wagers totaled $190.7 million and increased 23.9% or $36.8 million over February 2023.

The day after the game, officials reported that sportsbooks won $6.8 million on $185.6 million in bets.

“As you would expect, the amount wagered on football in February 2024 is the new all-time record for the month of February,” Lawton said.

It was a bounce-back month for the Strip after January, but off-Strip casinos dropped back after a record-setting month. Locals casinos posted a win total of $142.5 million, down about $27 million from January.